I survived the conference!

Well our North American Rock Garden Society conference that we hosted is over. I am dead tired from being on the go from 6 am till 11 pm for 4 days. But it was a smashing success! We had about 200 people and we heard nothing but accolades. It's amazing what a committee of 5 can pull off! It will probbaly be next week before I get all the pictures from the conference but here are a few. This was our plant sales area before it opened to the guests. We made about $800 in plant sales for our society but there were also 2 other vendors selling there.

The NARGS has a book sale as well. I managed to control myself and just buy 2 books.

We also made about $800 on our silent auction. Here's a shot of the registation desk.

We had speakers each evening and tours during the day. I was tour leader for Cape St. Mary's, the foggiest place in Newfoundland...and of course, it was indeed foggy. The other tours were in the sun and even at the Cape, the fog lifted enough for the guests to see the gannets at the bird rock, the highlight of Cape St. Mary's.

And another pic of the gannets

Here are some of the guests hiking in the fog.

The fog was quite haunting and the guests actually enjoyed it. Here's some blue flag iris and cinnamon fern in the fog.

Here are some guests inspecting the new plant we discovered at the Cape; Hudsonia ericoides. It was never reported at the Cape so we were quite excited.

The other specialty plant for the Cape is Diapensia lappoinica, which was just starting to bloom. This plant is quite rare elsewhere in North America.

and the other specialty was Salix uva-ursi, another rare arctic willow

Finally I'll end off with the very pale blue Campanula rotundifolia we also found at the Cape. Overall, the conference was a great success.

I'm glad your conference was a great success Todd. Your pictures of the gannets are wonderful. I would love to see them. I can see why the guests enjoyed their hike, it looks like a fabulous place to look around with the birds and the flowers. I especially like the Diapensia lappoinica.

Todd congrats on having such a great conference.

These rock & arctic plants are so impressive to me as they give me a feeling of a strong will to survive, to overcome adversity, and they still put on a brave face. I too like the Diapensia lappoinica. Todd do you know if this also comes in orange? When I was working on the arctic coast, we'd see low crawling plants on the rocks, mostly around Gjoa (pronounced Joe) Haven and Pelly Bay,and I remember them being orange, or maybe purple. I wish i had a picture of them.

Linda

Diapensia is always white. The orange and purple may have been Saxifrages.

Never a dull moment, I'm off on a plant collecting trip tomorow and won't be back until Friday.....next weekend I can finally relax!

Congratulations on a successful conference, Todd. Wish I could have been there to take advantage of that gorgeous looking plant sale! Thanks for sharing the kool photos. :)

Thank you for sharing your weekend with us Todd! Loved seeing all the pics. Ü

Those plants are beautiful.

Someday I'll get to visit, and see them and the whales

How does anyone ever specialise in plants? Maybe because I'm newish, but I'd just love to have them all!

I've got to settle down and plan . . .

And, Todd, my mother always used to say that we'll get enough rest when we're dead. So glad you had a great time after all the work you must have put in organising.

`marilyn

Glad you had a successful conference. Where are you off to now? The fog reminds me of growing up back East.